Caffeine During Preconception
Halie Winn
Article Summary
The Cosmopolitan article "The Scary Thing That Can Happen When You Drink Coffee Before You Want to Get Pregnant", written by Elizabeth Narins, claims that a study has shown that drinking more than two cups of caffeinated beverages, such as coffee, daily in the weeks up to conception, couples are more likely to miscarry. Narins states that the study was done on 501 Texan and Michigan couples who were trying to get pregnant, and out of the 347 couples that did, 98 of them had miscarried. The research showed that women over 35 were more likely to miscarry, and also that women and men who drank the most caffeine around the time of conception were more likely to miscarry. The study didn't look into how the caffeine effected the pregnancy and existing research on the subject didn't fill in any blanks. Narins concludes by stating that limiting caffeine intake for men and women is recommended before conception. She also goes on to recommend taking a multivitamin, and states that women in the study who had taken multivitamins were 55 percent less likely to miscarry than those who did not take them.
Article Critique
The article "The Scary Thing That Can Happen When You Drink Coffee Before You Want to Get Pregnant" was a very well-written article that conveyed a thought provoking point for an audience of young men and women who are trying to conceive. The author, Elizabeth Narins, is an online fitness and health editor, and an AFAA-certified personal trainer. She used a credible source for her findings and claim. Her article comes from a recent study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, and can be found on the National Institutes of Health website. However, this study has several factors that are questionable. First, the study is looking at two different things, and goes back and forth between the two. The first being that drinking more caffeine before conception can lead to miscarriages, and the second being that taking multivitamins before conception can help prevent miscarriages. The author of the study does not explain a correlation between the two in the study. This leads the reader to question whether those who drank caffeine, but also took multivitamins were still more at risk, or less at risk of miscarriage. The study also does not show any proof as to how caffeine effects pregnancy before conception. This leads the reader to think that there may be other factors, such as lifestyle factors like smoking, drinking, or toxins, and genetic factors. While the original article is well-written and may lead readers to believe that drinking caffeine before conception can lead to miscarriages, there are some contradictions in the study that are questionable and can lead a person to be skeptical.
Works Cited
Narins, E. (2016, March 24). The Scary Thing That Can Happen When You Drink Coffee Before You Want to Get Pregnant. Retrieved April 07, 2016, from http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/news/a55760/caffeine-and-miscarriage/
Couples' pre-pregnancy caffeine consumption linked to miscarriage risk | National Institutes of Health (NIH). (2016, March 24). Retrieved April 07, 2016, from http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/couples-pre-pregnancy-caffeine-consumption-linked-miscarriage-risk